Colts

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Indianapolis running back Eric Dickerson is trying to rebuild the bridges he burned during the off-season, but quarterback Chris Chandler is further trying the patience of the Colts' management. During the off-season, Dickerson threatened to retire and criticized his teammates and team management. But Tuesday he offered an olive branch, saying he was sorry if his comments hurt anyone and hinting he might return to the Colts. "I want things resolved," Dickerson told the Indianapolis News.

The Colts are 0-4, Peyton Manning has spent more time in the coaches' booth than on the field, and two defensive starters already have season-ending injuries. Could this start get any worse? Yes. After Monday night's 24-17 loss at Tampa Bay, the Colts returned home without a key defensive lineman and questions covering everything from a brewing quarterback controversy to the health of the offensive and defensive lines to poor pass coverage. The Colts, of course, want to accentuate the small positives from this dismal first month.

With just one typical season, Eric Dickerson could leap into third place among the NFL's all-time rushers. At the rate he's going, Dickerson may talk his way out of football before he gets a chance to rumble past O. J. Simpson, Franco Harris, John Riggins and Tony Dorsett. The NFL's seventh-leading rusher has said he won't report to Indianapolis, and, in fact, he had gone fishing with actor Mickey Rourke off Catalina Island as the Colts opened training camp on Thursday. In response, the Colts are threatening Dickerson with the NFL's version of an ultimatum - "the five-day letter.

Peyton Manning stepped up to the podium for a postgame interview like he has done so many times following an Indianapolis win. But this time there were no touchdown passes to review, no career milestones to celebrate. The defense, not the quarterback, was the star. Defensive end Robert Mathis scooped up quarterback Derek Anderson's fumble and rumbled 37 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter as the Colts stayed in the thick of the AFC playoff chase by winning their fifth straight, 10-6 over the host Cleveland Browns.

Indianapolis coach Ted Marchibroda says that quarterback Jeff George will start for first time this fall when the Colts play the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. Jack Trudeau started the first five games for Indianapolis, and the result was a 2-3 record and three offensive touchdowns. George, a starter since his rookie year in 1990, joined the team late after staging a bitter 36-day holdout. "You want your No. 1 guy going for you," Marchibroda said earlier in the week. "It's tough to win 16 games with your No. 2 guy. " Miami beat Indianapolis, 24-20, in the opening week of the season on Dan Marino's touchdown pass with 35 seconds left.

The Indianapolis Colts reached an agreement yesterday on a three-year, $6 million contract with quarterback Craig Erickson, completing a trade with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a first-round draft choice. Bill Tobin, Indianapolis's vice president and director of football operations, said the Colts would send Tampa Bay their 1996 first-round pick as part of the trade. "We'll also be giving them our fourth-round pick next year if certain conditions are met," Tobin said, adding that the conditions were too complicated to discuss.

Colts owner Jim Irsay says Indianapolis might not be big enough for two major league sports teams. Unless the NFL franchise can rework its lease with the city-owned RCA Dome, it will lose $30 million over the next three or four years because of rising player costs, he said. "Can [this market] support the Pacers and the Colts? Those are questions that I'm asking. Those are questions I know the city is asking themselves," Irsay said. Irsay's remarks come as team and city officials continue to grapple with the Colts' future - and whether Indianapolis can keep the team.

In the Colts' postgame dressing room was evidence of how serious and focused this young Indianapolis team is. On a white message board, among other goals for this game, a word was scrawled in huge, red, block letters: "FINISH. " The Colts finished all right. The Patriots (7-6) came into this game fighting for their postseason lives and with coach Pete Carroll's job on the line. And New England played as if this game was urgent. But true to their goal, the Colts finished. By beating the Patriots, 20-15, yesterday before a raucous crowd of 56,975 at the RCA Dome, the Colts avenged the second of their two losses this season.

New Indianapolis head coach Chuck Pagano began filling out his staff on Saturday, by hiring Bruce Arians as the Colts' new offensive coordinator. The former Temple coach was actually the Colts' quarterbacks coach from 1998 to 2000, Peyton Manning's first three years in the NFL. The move is seen as preparation for the Colts' drafting of Andrew Luck with the No. 1 pick in April. Arians had left the Pittsburgh Steelers by mutual consent on Jan. 5. Bears hire GM Chicago hired Kansas City Chiefs director of college scouting Phil Emery as its new general manager.

The Indianapolis Colts had a master plan for this season, a plan that they felt would put them in the playoffs and give them a shot at the AFC championship. They acquired quarterback Craig Erickson in a trade with Tampa Bay and signed free agent receiver Flipper Anderson. They spent a ton of money on the two players and brought in a new offensive coordinator, Lindy Infante. So what happened? Erickson played so badly, he was benched after three games. Anderson wrecked his knee and missed most of the season.